


Take on the World

by chocomint8



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Season 3 Missing Moments, post-season 3
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2020-07-27 17:23:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20049766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chocomint8/pseuds/chocomint8
Summary: A look at some of Jonathan and Nancy's missing moments from season 3...Chapters will be sorted by episode.Will eventually transition into post-season 3.





	1. Suzie, Do You Copy?

“So, I ran into Evelyn Carter at the supermarket today. Her daughter is going to Yale in the fall.” Karen Wheeler said, looking pointedly at Nancy from across the dinner table. 

“I know, Mom. We ran into Amy the other day at the mall.” Nancy responded, hoping that this would be enough to end the conversation. Ever since her junior year ended, her parents had started bringing up the topic of college nearly every day and she was hardly in the mood after the day she’d had at the Hawkins Post.

“I bet some of the people you’re working with at the Post could give you the names of some good schools.” Karen pointed out.

“Yeah, maybe,” Nancy responded, picking at the green beans on her plate. 

“What about you, Jonathan?” her mom asked Jonathan. 

Jonathan fidgeted in his seat next to Nancy before responding, “I’m thinking photography.".

“There isn’t much money in photography,” Ted said, looking up from his dinner.

“Ted!” Karen exclaimed, horrified.

“What?” Ted asked cluelessly.

“Jesus, Mike. Slow down,” Nancy said, desperate to change the subject. Across the table, Mike was shoveling his dinner into his mouth at warp speed. And it looked like Holly was attempting to copy her big brother.

“Sorry,” Mike said before taking a sip of his milk. “I’m meeting Lucas, Max, and Will at the mall and I just don’t want to be late.” 

Nancy smirked at her brother’s lie. He would be meeting his friends at the mall, but after he went to see El. Who their parents didn’t know about because Hopper was still pretty reluctant to let her out of the cabin. 

“Well, you’re not going to be meeting anyone if you choke,” Nancy said.

Mike stuck his tongue out at her before exclaiming, “I’m done. May I be excused?” 

Karen nodded, “Put your dishes in the sink on your way out. And don’t stay out too late.”

“Thanks, Mom. Bye!” Mike called.

Nancy could hear Mike’s dishes clatter into the sink and then the door slam behind him.

“So,” Nancy began, filling the awkward silence. She didn’t want to give her parents the chance to bring college up again. “Holly, you guys have been going to the pool a lot lately. Is it fun?”

Holly nodded vigorously, “We play sharks and minnows and try to do handstands. Oh! And Marco Polo, I’m really good at Marco Polo. Right now I’m only allowed in the shallow end, but once I get bigger, I’m going to be allowed in the deep end too! Right, Mommy?” 

Karen nodded.

“Barb and I used to love playing Marco Polo,” Nancy said, smiling fondly at her sister. She was finally getting to the point in her grief, and her guilt, that she could talk about Barb without feeling an overwhelming sadness.

“Holly definitely takes after you,” Karen laughed, before explaining to Jonathan, “Nancy was like a fish. Michael sunk like a stone.”

Jonathan laughed and Nancy smiled. The rest of their dinner conversation went smoothly right up until they had finished eating and after helping Karen with the dishes, Jonathan said that he should really be heading home. After he said his goodbyes, Nancy took his hand and lead him out. 

“Wanna come over tonight?” Jonathan asked her quietly once they left the house. 

“Give me fifteen minutes,” Nancy responded with a smile, kissing Jonathan before he left to park his car a block away.

“Mom?” Nancy asked as she walked back into the kitchen. “Can I spend the night at Allie’s?”

“I don’t see why not, just make sure that you get to work on time tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry, Jonathan’s picking me up tomorrow morning. I’m going to shower before I head over there so that I don’t have to worry about it in the morning.”

Her mom simply nodded as Nancy ran upstairs and quickly packed her bag with her outfit for the next day. 

After taking a quick shower, she threw on a t-shirt and pair of shorts before making her way down the stairs. Spending the night in Jonathan’s room without his mom finding out was one thing, trying to take a shower at his house was another. Luckily, she’d washed her hair the night before so she could skip that step tonight. 

“Bye, Mom! Bye, Dad!” Nancy yelled before slamming the front door behind her. She practically sprinted to Jonathan’s car. Even though they’d gotten away with doing this so far, she was always scared that one of her parents would look out the window and see what she was really doing.

“That was nineteen minutes,” Jonathan said with a smirk once Nancy got into the car after throwing her belongings in the backseat. 

“My watch says sixteen and a half,” Nancy replied.

“Well, your watch is wrong,” Jonathan laughed.

“You want me in your bed tonight or not?” Nancy asked him with a smirk.

Jonathan smiled and started the car.  
……..

“Shit,” Nancy muttered under her breath when they got to Jonathan’s house. His mom was home early. She was supposed to be working until eight and it was barely seven.

“Business has been slow since the mall opened up. Guess Donald let her go home early.” Jonathan said as he turned off the car.

“The window’s unlocked, right?” Nancy asked as they got out of the car.

Jonathan nodded and the teenagers began walking towards the house before stopping. 

“See you soon,” Nancy told him with a small smile before sneaking behind the house.

“Hey, mom,” Jonathan greeted Joyce as he walked into the house.

“How was dinner at the Wheelers?” Joyce asked him from her seat at the kitchen table. From the looks of it, she and Will were just finishing up their dinner.

“It was good. Slow down, bud. You’re just like Mike,” He laughed.

“I can’t be late. We’re supposed to meet at the mall by 8:00,” Will explained before finishing off his milk in one gulp.

“I can pretty much guarantee you’ll get there before Mike does. Besides, you don’t even like the mall.” Jonathan pointed out. 

“Hop’ll be thrilled about that,” Joyce muttered under her breath with a laugh.

“I don’t really, but my friends do. And I figure that if I do what they want tonight, maybe we’ll do what I want tomorrow.” Will said.

“I told you that Nancy and I will play D and D with you if you just show us how,” Jonathan pointed out. Over the past year or so, Will’s friends had been playing their favorite childhood game less and less, instead opting to hang out at the arcade or the mall once it opened. 

“That’s okay. It’s not the same, anyway,” Will said with a sigh before getting up to put his dishes in the sink. 

Jonathan and his mother shared a sad glance across the table. Will’s friends were growing up much faster than he was after everything he’d been through. His brother tried to be a good sport, but Jonathan knew that Will felt like he was being left behind.

Joyce stood from the table, turning to Will, “Are you sure you don’t want a ride to the mall?”

Will rolled his eyes. His mom and Jonathan were trying to let him regain his independence by allowing him to bike and walk places, but that didn’t stop either of them from offering him rides everywhere he went.

“Everyone else is biking, Mom. I’ll be okay, I promise,” Will reassured Joyce.

“Okay, you still have money for the pay phone just in case?” She asked. Will nodded. “Have fun. I love you,” Joyce smiled, hugging Will before he left. 

Jonathan followed his brother out. “Hey, Will!” He called as his brother got on his bike.

Will turned to face him. “Your friends are just growing up. It’s okay to have different interests, that doesn't mean you can't be friends anymore. And I know that you don’t think that Nancy and I are very cool, but you’re more than welcome to hang out with us any time you want.” Jonathan told his brother.

“Nancy’s cool,” Will told Jonathan with a smirk before adding, “And I guess you’re pretty cool too.” He began to peddle away.

“Be careful, bud!” Jonathan called behind his brother.

As soon as Jonathan entered the house, his mom said, “I’m worried about him.”

“He’ll be fine,” Jonathan said, walking towards the sink to wash his mom’s and Will’s dishes.

Joyce shot him an appreciative smile before leaning back against the counter, “Not about him going to the mall. I just… He’s always been different, but that was okay because his friends were too. Ever since they were little boys, it was him, Mike, and Lucas against the world. And then Dustin too, and then the girls. But now, I’m just worried… What if he’s too different than them? I know that they’re just being normal teenagers, but Will isn’t exactly a normal teenager.” She paused before quietly adding, “I just don’t want him to be left behind. Not after everything he’s been through.”

“He won’t be,” Jonathan reassured her. He made a mental note to ask Nancy to talk to Mike for him. Jonathan finished washing the dishes and hugged his mom goodnight before walking towards his room. He felt bad that Nancy was waiting for him alone, but she’d reassured him over and over that she wanted him to spend time with his family.

When Jonathan entered his room, Nancy was lying on his bed, reading. Jonathan turned on his music, not too loud, but just loud enough to mask the sound of their voices.

Nancy closed her book and sat up on his bed. “Can you believe my dad? There’s no money in photography.” She mocked. “I swear, he can be so goddamn insensitive sometimes. Not everyone wants to go into some bullshit boring job just because they’ll make a lot of money.”

“Nancy-“ Jonathan attempted to interject, but she continued.

“And God forbid someone actually be passionate about something. You know he isn’t happy that I want to go into journalism. Even though it’s something that I love, and I may still go to law school because it’s 1985 and I can do whatever the hell I want. He keeps talking about accounting and business, when I think that really, he probably just wants me to get married right out of high school and start popping out babies just like those assholes at the Hawkins Post. It’s bullshit.” Nancy flopped backwards on the bed.

“I think your dad means well,” Jonathan said, sitting down next to her. “I just think that he doesn’t always think before he speaks. And no offense, Nancy, because I want your parents to like me, believe me I do, but what your dad thinks isn’t going to suddenly make me want to settle for some boring job in sales. And I told you, sooner or later, everyone at the Post will realize how talented you are and let you have your shot,” Jonathan smiled reassuringly.

“Says the guy who spends all day shut up in the dark room alone,” Nancy sighed staring up at the ceiling.

Jonathan laughed. “Says the guy who loves you, who happens to know how much of a badass you are, who watched you fight a demogorgon and who helped you bring down Hawkins Lab. It doesn’t matter what your dad or anybody else thinks because-“

Nancy cut him off, kissing him. “Thank you,” she said with a small smile. 

“I wasn’t done,” Jonathan laughed. 

“Hm,” Nancy said, leaning back against his bedroom wall, “Well, you can either finish your Jonathan Byers pep talk or you can kiss me. Your choice.” She winked.  
Jonathan pretended to think for a minute before opting for the latter option. Nancy laughed against his lips as he made quick work of removing her clothes. 

Just as Nancy was in the middle of taking Jonathan’s shirt off, the power went out. “What the hell?” She asked.

“Stay here,” Jonathan told her, pulling his shirt back over his head and opening his door. “Mom! Did we not pay the-” He called.

Before Joyce could respond, the lights flickered back on. “Never mind!” Jonathan yelled, walking back into his room and slamming the door behind him.

Nancy was waiting for him. “Everything okay?” She asked nervously. After everything that had happened to them, even a simple power outage was enough to incite a panic. Jonathan nodded, “We’re safe.” He said softly.

“I love you,” Nancy smiled, before kissing Jonathan lightly. He grinned at her. Nancy winked, deepening the kiss as she pulled him backwards onto the bed. Neither of them noticed the clock next to them blinking, frozen at 12:00.

……..

As Nancy finished writing what Mrs. Driscoll told her, Jonathan came out of the darkroom. Once he noticed that she was on the phone, he picked up the garbage can that she set down and began picking up garbage.

“You know that’s not your job, right?” Nancy asked him with a laugh after she hung up the phone.

“It’s not your job either,” Jonathan countered, continuing to pick up garbage. “What was that about?”

“A woman named Mrs. Driscoll called, something about diseased rats,” Nancy replied, looking down at the pad of paper.

“Diseased rats, huh? I wonder what Tom will think about that,” Jonathan asked, dropping the last empty coffee cup into the trash can before setting it down on the floor.

“He’ll either tell me to drop it or give it to someone else. Which is exactly why we’re not going to tell Tom,”

“Nancy...” Jonathan stated warningly before questioning, “We?”

“It could be fun, like old times,” Nancy smiled, leaning against the desk towards him. “You, me, a mystery. Like monster hunting without the monsters.” 

“I don’t know, Nancy,” Jonathan said warily. “What if we piss off Tom and this story ends up being nothing weird, just some rats that are acting weird for some perfectly logical explanation?"

“Because nothing weird ever happens in Hawkins.” Nancy pointed out with a laugh.

Jonathan looked at his watch. “Shit, how did it get to be so late?” They’d both surely missed dinner.

“Time flies when you’re having fun,” Nancy deadpanned.

Jonathan rolled his eyes. He walked towards her and snaked his arms around her waist. “Are you sure I can’t convince you to stay the night tonight?”

Nancy shook her head, “We agreed. Only every other night, no more than three a week. Anything more could arouse suspicion. The last thing we need is our parents finding out and spending senior year on house arrest.”

…..

“Love you,” Nancy kissed Jonathan before getting out of his car.

Jonathan rolled down the window and called behind her, “I love you too! See you in the morning,” 

He sat in his car and waited to make sure that Nancy got into the house safely. Even though things seemed to be normal, he knew that you could never be too careful. Once he saw the door close behind her, he pulled away.

“Mom?” Nancy called, entering the house. She saw her dad fast asleep in his recliner with Holly in his lap and she couldn’t help but smile.

“In here, sweetheart,” Her mom whispered from the kitchen.

“Sorry, I’m late! I lost track of time,” Nancy said as she walked into the kitchen. She stopped in her tracks when she saw her mom, fully dressed, with her hair and makeup done, standing at the kitchen counter and nursing a glass of wine. “Going somewhere?” She asked curiously.

“What? Oh this,” Karen responded, hoping that Nancy didn’t notice the blush that rose to her cheeks, “I was going to go out for a drink with some of the mom’s from the pool, but they had to cancel at the last minute. Why don’t I heat you up some dinner?” Karen asked, walking towards the fridge.

“Thanks, Mom. That’d be great,” Nancy smiled, hopping up on the kitchen counter. “You look really nice.” She added with a smile, though part of her couldn’t help but feel a little sad for her mom. All dressed up and nowhere to go.


	2. The Mall Rats

“Good morning,” Nancy said with a smile as she climbed into Jonathan’s car.

“You’re in a good mood,” Jonathan observed.

“It’s going to be a good day.” Nancy responded. “I just know it.”

“I still don’t know if this is such a good idea,” Jonathan said softly. “What if Tom gets mad?”

“You worry too much,” Nancy laughed, “I have a good feeling about this story. I think it could really be something big.”

Jonathan opened his mouth to speak, but promptly shut it. He hadn’t seen Nancy this excited about something all summer. Even though he had a really bad feeling about what she was planning, he didn’t want to crush her spirit. 

“If it’s really big, you might even have to water it down.” Jonathan finally said with a laugh, deciding to drop it for now. He still wasn’t quite clear on what Nancy’s plan exactly was, seeing as they were both scheduled to work all day, but he decided to just wait it out. Maybe by then, he’d come up with a better argument to talk her out of it. Though in his gut, he knew he wouldn’t. He was hopelessly in love with Nancy Wheeler, even the parts of her that could be a little reckless sometimes. Especially those parts of her. And he knew that he’d end up going along with whatever she had planned, no matter how crazy.   
………

“I told you,” Nancy said once they were back in Jonathan’s car after leaving Mrs. Driscoll’s. 

Jonathan handed her his camera bag, “What exactly did you tell me?” He asked her curiously as he began back towards the Hawkins Post. According to his watch, their lunch break was over in about six minutes.

“That something seriously weird is going on. I called a couple of farms while you were taking pictures. A lot of them have had pesticides, fertilizer, that kind of stuff go missing or get destroyed, like Mrs. Driscoll’s. Though, I’m not quite sure why rats would eat that shit unless they had a death wish.”

“That’s what I was trying to tell you when you rushed me out of the basement. I think the rat was rabid or something. At first, it was thrashing around in the cage, it wouldn’t stay still for me to get a decent picture and then all of it sudden it fell over and just kind of laid in one spot shaking.”

“Why didn’t you tell me while we were there?”

“I tried, but you weren’t exactly patient,” he scoffed. “We can go back if you want, get a closer look.”

Nancy shook her head, “We’re already running late and I don’t want you to get in trouble. If we leave the Post right at five, we should have plenty of time to get to the library before it closes.”

“The library?” He asked curiously.

“Research. When I present Tom the evidence, I want to have a theory or two to explain it all. You said your mom has plans tonight, we can go over to your place and maybe try to find an explanation. I’m sure the library will have plenty of books on rats and rabies.”

“You’re lucky I love you.” Jonathan replied as he pulled into their parking spot. 

“I know.” Nancy grinned before planting a light kiss on his lips.  
…………  
That night, Nancy and Jonathan walked into his house. Her overnight bag slung over her shoulder, weighed down with two encyclopedias while Jonathan was struggling under the weight of just about every book that the Hawkins Public Library had on rats, rabies, fertilizer, and anything else that Nancy had deemed even remotely relevant. 

“I think there’s some left over lasagna in the fridge. I’ll heat it up for us,” Jonathan said after dumping the library book haul onto the sofa. He picked up her overnight bag to drop in his room. 

Nancy nodded absentmindedly, as she sat on the couch, pulling a thick library book into her lap before rifling through her purse to find her notepad, a pen, and a pad of post-its. She kicked off her flats and got to work.

About fifteen minutes later, Jonathan set their dinner on the table before calling Nancy. She didn’t seem to hear him.

“Dinner’s ready,” he said a little louder, walking back into the living room. Nancy was on the couch, surrounded by open books, each now full of post-its that he had a feeling were color-coded, and a notebook.

“Hey, Nancy Drew,” He finally said teasingly, gently pulling at her hand.

Nancy looked up. “Ass.” She stood up from the couch and playfully smacked him on the shoulder. “Don’t call me that.” She said a little more firmly.

Jonathan blushed. He didn’t know what had come over him. He knew how much the nickname bothered her. “I’m sorry,” he said softly before gently taking her hand and leading her to the table.

“It’s okay. I know you were just joking around,” Nancy said as they began to eat. “You’re lucky I love you.” She told him with a smirk, mocking what he’d said in the car earlier.

“And don’t I know it.” Jonathan replied sitting down. “Find anything good?” He asked, taking a bite of lasagna.

“Maybe, rats can carry lots of diseases. Though, it turns out rabies isn’t usually one of them, so there goes that theory.” 

Jonathan nodded, taking a sip of his milk. “Could any of those diseases cause them to eat fertilizer?”

Nancy’s brow furrowed, “I don’t think so. It’s called pica, you know. Eating weird shit that isn't actually food. But we still need to figure out if it's a matter of causation or correlation.” She took a bite of lasagna, noticing that Jonathan was staring at her with a wide grin, “What?” She asked, her mouth half full of lasagna.

“Have I ever told you you’re one of the smartest people I know?” Jonathan asked her.

“One of?” Nancy asked with a small smirk, playfully kicking his shin under the table. Jonathan opened his mouth to retort, but was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening.

“I’m home!” Joyce called. 

Jonathan shot Nancy a furtive glance. The last thing he needed was his mom worrying about all of this before they got to the bottom of it. 

“How was work, Mrs. Byers?” Nancy asked Joyce as she began to heat up her own dinner. 

…………

That night, after driving aimlessly around Hawkins long enough to make his mom think that he’d dropped Nancy off at her house, Jonathan told his mom goodnight and went to his bedroom, finding Nancy already comfortable in his bed, her research splayed out on the floor next to her. 

He took off his pants before crawling into bed behind her, wrapping his arms around her.

“Thank you. For today and for always going along with my crazy plans.” Nancy whispered.

“Anytime,” Jonathan responded, lightly pressing a kiss on her shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little shorter than the first chapter, but I hope you guys enjoyed it! The next chapter will feature missing moments from episode 3!
> 
> I apologize for the long wait, life is a little crazy right now.


End file.
